Dream projects

12 Dec 2011

Fonts in use

When I started working with type some twenty years ago I imagined a couple of dream applications for my future typefaces. I had no idea about font production, but I was already fantasising about the possible results of what was then my evening hobby. So I made the following list:

— an important wine label
— ~~a major newspaper~~
— ~~an airport orientation system~~
— an NHL jersey
— bank notes
— ~~postage stamps~~
— a Pink Floyd album cover
— ~~a Bible~~

Now that I have two decades of work behind me, I feel proud that I can cross some items off the list. And I am equally happy that there is some work still to be done, though in the meantime I changed my mind about the NHL jerseys, and it is not likely that Pink Floyd will record a new album.

I put the Bible at the end of the list as the least likely possibility of my font applications. I imagined that somewhere there must be some clergy who decide which fonts can be used for Bibles, and it didn’t seem very plausible that they would choose my typefaces.

To my great surprise, not one but several Bibles have been set in Typotheque fonts. Bibles are traditionally set in very space-saving fonts, specifically optimised for very small sizes, so maybe it is not such a surprise after all that Typotheque fonts are used there (when they are used for same reasons in dictionaries and newspapers).

I’d like to present a few of the Bibles that use our fonts.

Danish design studio 2Krogh specialises in the design of Bibles and hymn books. We’ve already shown their Design & Production bible, an impressive book on Bible production.

One of 2Krogh’s more recent projects is a Danish Bible which is the first Bible in the world to use the innovative Dwarsligger book format. Dwarsligger is an invention of the Dutch premier printer and binder Jongbloed. It is a convenient, lightweight pocket format that you can read holding it in one hand.

Den Hellige Skrifts, Kanoniske Bøger, Det Danske Bibelselskab, 2010
Designed by 2Krogh, set in Fedra Serif A at 7/8.5pt
printed and bound by Jongbloed, Heerenven, The Netherlands

This is an easy-to-read version titled English Large Print Flexcover Bible, published and designed by World Bible Translation Center. It uses Fedra Serif A at 10/11.5pt, combined with Fedra Sans Condensed Bold for the section headings.

English Large Print Flexcover Bible